Remember when I said being “busy” isn’t a badge of honor, it’s a signal to clean your plate❓
Well, when you have thoughts like “I’d rather be….” or “I don’t have time for this…” or “This is such a waste of time”….that is also a signal. 🤔
Instead of just getting frustrated, learn what to do when you recognize this signal to make things better in the future.
Learn 3 ways to turn a “waste of time” into something valuable below 🎯
No time to read? Listen here: https://youtu.be/HCcL2I81Thw
My clients (and myself!) rush because of these 2 reasons:
🤜 First, there’s a time constraint and you need to finish this thing to get to the next (always “running late”).
🤜 Second, there’s no actual time constraint, you just want to be OUT of what is uncomfortable or what you see as a “waste of time”.
You just simply don’t want to be doing what you are currently spending this minute(s) on. It’s “wasting your time”.
(Click here to read about how you can gain actual time if the first is your problem): https://www.motherhoodbalanced.com/blog. Today, I'm focusing the second where there are feelings of a "waste of time".
The “waste of time” could be sitting in traffic. It could be sitting at a meeting you don’t feel is valuable. It could be making dinner, cleaning up from dinner, doing yard work.
Maybe it’s talking to your kid about something that happened at school today, or just TRYING to get them to tell you anything that happened that day. 😒
There’s 3 things you can do once you recognize you are feeling something is a "waste of time" ➡️➡️➡️
Align with a Purpose
You feel like things are a “waste of time” because it’s doesn’t fit into your view of value in your current life. 🎯
You think of “making dinner” or “doing the laundry” as something that just has to get done, checked off this list, finished ✔️ instead of something that you WANT to do because it supports healthy fueling of your family, teaches your kids about how to do that, and shows them that it’s important.
So if you can start seeing how some of those things you “just need to get done” fit into your bigger life purposes, it flips it from being a WASTE of time to a purposeful CHOICE of use of your precious time.
What is the purpose or larger reason for doing something❓
(By the way, you can still REDUCE the time YOU actually spend on it by having your kids help out - for example - while keeping the intent true. It could even strengthen your intent on building independent kids that can eventually live without you:)
Get Curious about the Growth Gift
And if you don’t have a choice, like hitting traffic on the way home…get curious about the growth gift it offers. Meaning asking yourself “How can I grow because of this experience?”
And trust me, as someone who previously spent 2.5 hours of each workday in a CAR with traffic, I am ever grateful I don’t have to do that anymore.
HOWEVER, I saw the growth gift in it because I got to listen to the greatest podcasts, get my mind off work, and be in “home” mode by the time I picked my kids up.
(And now that I don’t typically have a car commute, I had to re-insert a purposeful transition process in order to be in the state of mind I wanted to be in the evenings). https://www.motherhoodbalanced.com/post/how-to-be-more-present-after-work-with-a-transition-plan
So, what good or opportunity to grow (even grow your patience) can come from some of those “wasteful” experiences ❓
Off-Plate It
If it can’t supply value to you in one of the ways above, you need to get it off your plate….again, try this exercise!
If it doesn’t align with an overall goal of yours right now, how can you get it off your plate or decrease the time spent on it ❓
P.S. The way I align time with what is valuable IN THIS SEASON OF MY LIFE is with the Clarity Compass. I do this exercise about once a year, and it REALLY helps me (and my clients) get crystal clear on the overall reasons I WANT to spent time on certain things in my life (and more importantly, not spend my time on).